Lost in the Woods
by Hiccup251
Summary: "Weiss," Ruby shouted down, still in awe, "I've a feeling we're not in Remnant anymore." In the middle of a mission, team RWBY is whisked away to an unfamiliar land. Divided, they must find their way home - but the journey will not be easy.
1. Chapter 1

Ruby Rose sat in Hunting Theory class, idly sketching on the paper in front of her. Professor Port was regaling the class with another tale of his heroism - nearly a daily event for them. His story was cut short by a loud beeping sound. A few students snickered at his miffed expression as he retrieved his scroll from the desk. His frown deepened as he read the message on the screen.

"Miss Rose," he began, still looking at the scroll, "is the rest of your team present?"

"Yes, sir," Ruby responded, perking up.

"You four are to report to Professor Ozpin immediately, in his office," Port commanded, finally looking up.

* * *

><p>Team RWBY walked through the halls of Beacon towards the headmaster's office, and Ruby was worried. She didn't think she'd broken anything important in the last week or so, but she might have been forgetting something… Maybe she'd broken a rule she didn't know about?<p>

"You're overreacting," Yang dismissed, reading the concern on her sister's face. "I bet it's something good. Maybe he wants to congratulate us on how awesome we've been, recently."

"If it were so mundane, he wouldn't interrupt class," Weiss countered. "He needs us for something."

"We're about to find out," said Blake, as the girls reached the door to Ozpin's office. On the outside, it looked like any other teacher's room; the only notable difference was a small, gold plate adorning the entrance. Ozpin's name was etched into it.

"Come in," came a voice from inside, muffled by the door.

Ruby opened the door, and the rest of her team filed in after. They sat down in the chairs Ozpin gestured to. The room was surprisingly simple, without much in terms of decoration. Ozpin's desk was barren but for a few papers and an expensive-looking coffee maker.

"I apologize for interrupting your class, but I had urgent need of you four. I have a mission for you."

Weiss smiled imperceptibly, relishing her small victory.

"You are to hunt down and eliminate a White Beowolf that has been terrorizing the northeastern quarter of Vale," Ozpin continued. "It has been seen retreating into the Emerald Forest, where its den is presumed to be. It should be considered quite dangerous; it severely wounded a huntsman who came to aid in the defense of Vale. However, even though you are not full huntresses yet, your combined combat skill is far beyond that of any one professional."

Team RWBY swelled with pride, each member smiling at the compliment.

"As it is assumed that the beast resides on our property, it falls on us to eliminate it. You should leave within the next hour, before it has time to make another raid on Vale. Good luck."

Ozpin stood, and with a wave of his hand dismissed the girls.

* * *

><p>The girls stood on the Beacon Cliffs, in the same area from which they had been launched a few months earlier. Weiss and Yang were in the middle of an argument over how they should go about searching.<p>

"And I'm saying we should use the launch pads," yelled Yang. "They're right here for us to use, and we might even spot something from the air."

Weiss rolled her eyes. "We'll get separated. The time it'll take to find each other and reorganize ourselves isn't worth it, in addition to the fact that we'll have no real idea where we are in the forest. We're better off climbing down and searching systematically."

Ruby stood apart from them, deep in thought. It took her a few moments to realize that the two had stopped arguing, and were now looking at her expectantly.

"Weiss is right," the leader spoke up. "We can't afford to lose our bearings."

The heiress congratulated herself with a smirk, while Yang crossed her arms with a frown.

"But," continued Ruby, "it will take too long to search the entire forest if we stay together. We'll need to split up; I'll go with Weiss," she finished, grabbing the other girl's wrist.

Yang shook her head. "It's too dangerous. You heard what Ozpin said; I can't have you rushing in to a fight against something like that."

"We have our scrolls," Blake interjected. "We just agree not to engage the Beowolf without the entire team - send the other pair a message if you encounter it, and we'll meet up to take it down."

"That," said Ruby, pointing at the faunus girl, "is exactly what we are going to do."

Yang reluctantly agreed. "If there's nothing else, we should get going. Come on, Blake."

Without another word, the blonde-haired girl leapt off the cliff.

"See you soon," smiled Blake, before following.

"First official mission for Team RWBY, commence!" Ruby whooped as she dove off the cliff.

_And I get to wander the woods with her for hours. Again,_ thought Weiss_. Fantastic._

Not terribly enthusiastic about the prospect, Weiss dove off after her partner.


	2. Chapter 2

"Ugh, I forgot how big this place was," complained Yang. "We've been here for at least four hours already, and we're not even done with the first quadrant."

"It'll start getting dark before too long," Blake nodded. "Let's try to at least finish this area; it'll be too dangerous to continue searching at night. We've been lucky not to run into any Grimm yet, but there's no reason to put ourselves in danger when you can't see ten feet ahead of yourself, anyway."

"Oh, right," Yang said, remembering. "The dark doesn't even bother you, does it? Damn, I hate being a burden."

Blake waved her hand dismissively. "Don't worry about it; I'd rather not fight this thing alone. Let's just get as much ground covered as possible before heading back."

The pair continued their uneventful search of the forest, finding no signs at all of the monsters that were normally prolific.

* * *

><p>"I was expecting more excitement out of our first mission," Ruby sighed. "This is boring."<p>

"Don't let your guard down," snapped Weiss. "We know they're somewhere in these woods, and if the Beowolf sees you before you see it, well… I don't want to be the one to have to carry you back to Beacon."

They maintained their search in silence for several minutes, but eventually Ruby let out a long, exasperated groan. "Weiss. Tell me a joke."

The heiress rolled her eyes. "No."

"Pleeeeease?"

"No, Ruby."

Weiss heard the footsteps behind her stop, so she turned around. She instantly made eye contact with her partner, who was putting full effort into the puppy-dog routine. Under the pressure, Weiss finally cracked.

"Ugh, fine," she yielded. The heiress closed her eyes for a moment while she thought. "Okay. You and I are stuck on a boat. Who rows?"

"Hmmmm. I dunno," responded her partner, stumped.

"You do," said Weiss.

Ruby blinked.

"Ruby rows?" Weiss tentatively explained.

Slowly but surely, Ruby's lips turned up into a grin. "I knew you had it in you!" She slapped the other girl on the back and skipped off, seeming very pleased.

"I can't believe I just did that," muttered Weiss to herself. Puns were not something she would normally make - they are, after all, one of the lowest forms of humor, unbefitting of a Schnee - but she couldn't help but feel a bit proud, despite herself, of how quickly she'd turned her partner's mood around.

* * *

><p>"I swear, there's nothing in these woods!" yelled a frustrated Yang. "I'm starting to think that they brought in Grimm for us to fight for initiation."<p>

"It does seem conspicuously empty," Blake agreed. "Maybe you're right - or maybe the monsters have vacated the area. Do Grimm hibernate?"

"Hell if I know."

Yang felt a droplet of water land on her head. She looked up to see gray skies, with angry looking thunderheads throughout. "Looks like rain. It'll be pouring in minutes, I bet."

Blake shivered. "Can we look for some shelter? I hate rain."

Her partner rolled her eyes playfully. "Only for you, dearest."

"Let's just head toward the cliffs and look for a cave or overhang," Blake sighed. "You should send a message to Ruby to let them know we're done for the day; by the time the rain stops, it'll be too dark to search."

* * *

><p>"Weiss, wait."<p>

"What is it?"

The storm had arrived suddenly a few minutes earlier, significantly slowing the girls' progress. Ruby and Weiss stopped close to a large tree, avoiding the majority of the rainfall.

Ruby held up her scroll. "Yang sent me a message saying that they found a cave to rest in along the side of the cliff, and suggested we do the same. They haven't run into any Grimm, either."

"Strange," pondered Weiss. "Still, it would be dangerous to assume they're not present, and sleep outside, so-"

Thunder boomed overhead.

"And, I suppose, lightning would be as much of a threat as any, if we were to take shelter under a tree."

"Let's go, then," Ruby suggested.

The pair made their way back to the cliffs, trying their best to move quickly and stay under tree cover, but by the time they found a suitable cave, they were thoroughly soaked.

"This one better not have a Deathstalker in it," Ruby muttered darkly as they made their way deeper, into the darkness. As they felt their way along the walls, the girls realized that they'd come to the end of the small cavern, their current vicinity roughly circular. Moderately pleased with the relative safety and comfort of the cave, Weiss settled down on the floor. It wasn't exactly cozy, but she was too tired to care.

"I'm going to sleep," she announced. "Good night, Ruby."

"Already?" her partner inquired. "I bet it's not even nine o'clock."

Weiss grunted. "What else would we do? It's too dark to see, and, honestly, I feel I've talked to you enough today."

"...Okay, I guess. Good night, Weiss," Ruby replied, a bit miffed.

Weiss fell asleep in minutes, and, though it took her longer, Ruby soon followed.

* * *

><p>Blake and Yang laid in a cave much like the other girls', though neither was ready to sleep.<p>

"I'm not looking forward to slogging through the mud tomorrow, finishing out our search," began Yang. "That kind of footing isn't exactly good for fights, either."

Blake shrugged, though Yang couldn't see her. "We'll just have to deal with it. Ozpin said it was urgent."

They rested quietly for a minute, before Yang broke the silence. "Hey, Blake. You can see in here, right?"

"Mhm."

"What does the cave look like?"

"It's nothing special," Blake said as she looked around the cavern. "The ceiling is about ten feet up, and it's all the same kind of rock. There are some carvings on the wall, but it doesn't look like writing."

"Huh. Guess I'm not missing out on much."

"Couldn't you just do that thing where you... burn? You could see the cave yourself, if there was light."

Yang laughed. "I can't just do it whenever I want, you know. There needs to be some incentive: I've gotta be mad, or there has to be a need to lay down a beating on someone. When I need the boost, it's there. It's not much use as a flashlight."

Blake frowned. She'd phrased it as a suggestion, but really all she wanted was to see Yang use her Semblance. She'd only gotten a glimpse of it when they'd met during initiation, and had been curious ever since. Despite how open and friendly her partner was, Blake still knew hardly anything about her. So, she devised a plan to learn more.

"Hey Yang. You suck."

"What?" Yang immediately realized what her partner was up to. "Sorry, it's not going to be that easy to get me angry."

Silence.

Yang huffed in annoyance. "Blake, where are you? Dammit, Blake - wait, no. Not falling for this. I'm going to sleep."

Once she was settled and as comfortable as she was going to get, Yang heard Blake whisper, from the same spot she had been the entire time, "Good night, Yang."

The blonde-haired girl smiled warmly. "G'night, kitty."

* * *

><p>While the girls slept quietly in their caves, glowing glyphs began to appear on the cavern walls. One by one they emerged, slowly brightening the caves, until they were filled with a mystic luminescence. Then, suddenly, every glyph disappeared, leaving no trace. Team RWBY slept on, peacefully ignorant of the breathtaking display - and its implications.<p> 


	3. Chapter 3

Weiss yawned and stretched as she woke from her slumber. The cave was almost as dark as it had been the night before, but a faint light could be seen coming from the entrance. She got up and followed the light to the cave's exit, where she could make out the silhouette of her partner. Only her outline was visible, because, even on the threshold of the cavern, a thick fog obscured Weiss' sight. It unnerved her. Fog was not terribly uncommon where she grew up, but this seemed almost… unnatural.

"This is not going to make for an easy search," the heiress sadly noted.

"Oh, you're awake," Ruby exclaimed, turning around. "Yeah, the weather doesn't seem to like us. But I'm not about to stay cooped up in this cave while we wait this out; We might as well try to make a little progress."

"I suppose that's reasonable. I need to get these clothes dry, too…" Weiss responded, looking down at her outfit in a manner that suggested she had already lost all hope of salvaging it.

Having come to an agreement, the girls walked cautiously out into the haze. Before long, they found themselves back in the woods, and trees quickly surrounded them. The fog obscured their vision, such that they could only see twenty feet ahead of them.

"Does something seem… off, to you?" questioned Weiss, as they walked.

"Well, the trees seem closer together than I remember," Ruby answered, "but that's probably just the fog making me feel claustrophobic."

"You're probably right."

They kept walking. A minute later, Weiss spoke up again.

"It feels empty. Like nothing lives here, not even monsters."

"Weiss, every forest has at least something living in it."

"Every tree we walk past looks the same," the heiress continued, clearly disconcerted, "and we -"

"We should stop and rest, to let you cool off," Ruby interrupted. "Can't have you in such bad shape if we're attacked!"

Weiss stopped, realizing how nervous and childish she must have just sounded. "...Okay," she agreed, "that would probably be for the best."

They sat down with their backs to a tree, waiting in silence. In a strange way, Ruby felt as if time was passing more quickly than usual.

"Weiss, look! The fog is fading," Ruby observed.

Slowly but surely, the haze lifted, and the girls got a good look at their surroundings.

"This doesn't look anything like the Emerald Forest," Weiss noted, her voice passive.

"It's a big place," rationalized Ruby. "We hardly saw any of it last time we were here."

"I'm fairly certain there wasn't any area of the forest which the sun didn't touch."

It was dark, though Ruby was sure it was day. There were no rays of sun shining through the thick canopy created by the tightly packed trees, and she couldn't catch a glimpse of the sky. And the trees were tall - they towered at least twice as high as any tree they'd seen the day before. Weiss was right; this place did not belong in the Emerald Forest, and they probably hadn't walked a mile from their cave.

"Maybe the cave had two exits, and we left through the other one without knowing?" Ruby suggested, knowing the prospect was unlikely.

"I suppose I can't think of any other possibility," Weiss conceded.

For a few moments, they remained in place, thinking.

"Trees," Ruby started. "These are trees. I'll just climb one, and see where we are."

The younger girl stood and got a grip on the tree, before scurrying up it in an almost squirrel-like manner. She fought her way through the foliage at the top, and forced her head up into open air. What she saw took her breath away. The sky was a deep green, as beautiful as it was bizarre, almost indistinguishable from the canopy of the forest. The trees extended as far as the eye could see in almost every direction - only to her right, where the sun was positioned, did the environment change into what appeared to be desert. Over the sand, the sky turned a warm yellow-gold; the line where the two skies met was startlingly clear. That border seemed terribly far, though, just on the edge of her sight; it would be at least a full day's march.

"Weiss," Ruby shouted down, still in awe, "I've a feeling we're not in Remnant anymore."

After taking in the sight for a few more moments, she scrambled back down the tree to a very impatient looking Weiss.

"What do you mean, not in Remnant anymore?" she demanded.

"The sky is green," Ruby explained.

"Green."

Ruby nodded. "Pretty much the same color as the leaves on these trees."

"And you're confident," Weiss began, "that what you were seeing was the sky, and not, in fact, more leaves?"

Ruby rolled her eyes. "Yes, Weiss; I could see the sun. The forest goes out for miles in all directions, but I could see what looked like a desert way off that way."

"Okay. We should head back to the cave, then, and find out where we got mixed up," Weiss calmly proposed.

Her partner shook her head. "The forest stretches for miles, like I said. The cave was part of the cliff, and I can confirm that there is no cliff anywhere nearby. It's gone, though I can't explain it."

"Okay. Easy. We message the other two and tell them what happened, they come help us or send for help from Beacon," Weiss said, taking out her scroll. "No connection," she deadpanned. "I don't know what I was expecting."

"Well, at least we can still see the Aura meters! So we know they're alive, and they know we are. Eventually they'll notice we're gone, and get help.

Weiss nodded. She was near her breaking point, but Ruby couldn't tell. "For now we might as well… what? Explore?" asked the heiress.

Ruby shrugged. "Let's head toward the desert, and see if there's anything interesting there or on the way."

"I suppose there's not much of a choice, is there?"

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** And here we go. Apologies for the slightly tedious early chapters. I tried to keep them short while preserving all of the plot buildup. Finally, though, it starts to get interesting.

Please leave a review! If you have any questions, add them to your review or just send a PM and I'll do my best to answer them.


	4. Chapter 4

"Yang, wake up. Something's wrong."

The blonde-haired girl opened her eyes to see the worried face of her partner. The cave was dimly lit now, enough to see by without too much trouble.

Yang sat up quickly. "Are you hurt?"

"No, nothing like that," Blake said, shaking her head. "We're not where we were last night."

"It looks like a cave to me," Yang replied, raising an eyebrow skeptically. "You saw it yesterday; is it not the same one?"

"No, look," Blake let out a frustrated grunt. "Just come outside, okay?"

The pair made their way to the exit, and Yang got her first glimpse of the outside. Her eyes widened in understanding.

"Oh. Yeah, we definitely didn't come through this to get to the cave."

There was no open space between the exit and the trees, and no sunlight made it through the thick canopy above them.

"When I got up, there was a thick fog that made it impossible to even see the tops of the trees. I came to wake you as soon as I realized that something weird was going on," said Blake.

Yang walked slowly out of the cave, taking in her surroundings. "We need to contact Ruby and Weiss."

Blake frowned. "I already tried. There's no connection - all our scrolls are good for, now, is aura measurement. Wherever they are, at least we know they're healthy," she continued, pointing to the full green bars below their teammates' faces on the screen.

"It's something, I guess," sighed Yang. "Anyway, we're not going to get anything done standing around. If we can't get help, we're just going to have to find our way back. If we just go straight for long enough, we'll eventually make it out of the forest."

"Should we get moving, then?"

"Let's."

The duo set out, straight from the exit of the cave, forging a path through the dense woods.

* * *

><p><strong>Hours Later<strong>

"I feel like we've walked through this part before," noted Yang.

"And I feel like I've seen that tree a hundred times," added Blake. "Everything in these woods looks the same, Yang. All we can really do is keep moving and hope that we come out in a place we recognize."

Suddenly, Yang tensed up.

"Something wrong?" asked Blake.

Yang carefully scanned her surroundings. "You ever have that feeling?"

"What feeling?"

Yang turned to face her partner. "That feeling that something's watching y-"

A shape blurred from behind a tree and smashed into Yang, knocking her over. The form disappeared as quickly as it had come. The blonde-haired fighter got up, wincing as she felt the deep gash on her cheek. Her aura healed it within a few seconds. Ember Celica expanded into full gauntlets on her hands, as she prepared for a second assault. Meanwhile, Blake stood in shock, unable to move.

"Blake! Get your ass in gear!" Yang shouted. The shape rushed her again, but she was able to avoid being bowled over. "Blake!"

Snapping out of her trance, the faunus girl turned to her partner. "Yang, I need you to put your weapons away."

"Are you crazy!?"

Blake walked slowly away from her. "Just do it," she whispered.

As the dark-haired girl moved forward, a shining pair of golden, feline eyes appeared in the darkness, some distance away. The eyes moved to meet her, and eventually she could make out a lithe form, black in color, its tail held low. Blake removed her bow; the ears of the beast were nearly identical to hers.

"I know you," the girl muttered to herself as she stopped, about ten feet from the creature, who had settled into a sitting position. "Why do I know you?"

Yang approached slowly, watching as her partner stared into the eyes of what had attacked them. She stood off to the side, unsure of what to do. She waited. Every minute that passed seemed like an hour. She was nervous, but that wasn't enough to outweigh her caution; she was far more worried about what would happen if she interrupted whatever was passing between her partner and the mysterious creature. An eternity later, the beast broke eye contact with Blake and turned to Yang. It watched her for a moment, almost thoughtfully, and then stalked away into the darkness.

Blake turned to her partner. "I know what we have to do."

"What do you mean, you know what we have to do?"

"It spoke to me, kind of. Not in words, but in pictures. It showed me the places we have to go, and what we have to get."

"You're being awfully informative."

Blake shook her head, exasperated. "Look, I can understand how you might be impatient, but this is a lot of information to process. I can't… I haven't found words, yet. I'll explain to you as we walk; believe me, we'll have plenty of time to kill."

"So we have a direction?" Yang perked up.

Blake smiled, and nodded. "Follow me."

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** I'm very interested to hear any speculation you guys might have about the nature of this place and the things in it. The next chapter is mostly done, and will have a lot of answers, but I want to hear some theories! Leave a review or drop me a PM.


	5. Chapter 5

"How long have we been walking?" asked Ruby.

"Does it matter?"

"I feel like we're almost there," Ruby shrugged.

Weiss sighed. "Tell you what. Next time we run into something new, you can climb another tree to check."

"But we haven't seen anything new since we walked into these woods."

Weiss gave Ruby an even stare. The younger girl rolled her eyes. "Fine, I get your point."

"The fewer breaks we take, the faster we'll get there. It's less important that we know when that will be," reasoned Weiss.

Ruby grinned, an idea popping into her head. "Try and keep up, then!"

Ruby broke into a sprint. Her partner stood still for a moment, trying to comprehend what just happened, before giving chase; she did not look pleased.

Weiss ran for several minutes, still without sight of the younger girl. She was starting to get worried. What if their paths had deviated? They could be lost, alone in the woods for a very, very long time. When the red-cloaked form of her partner finally came into view, her worry was replaced with equal parts rage and relief. She dashed around to stand in front of Ruby, crossing her arms and preparing to chastise the girl.

"And just what do you think you're doing?" she demanded, anger still clear on her face. "If you'd gotten too far off, or turned even slightly to either side, I could have lost track of you! We can't afford to be sep-"

Ruby stepped forward and placed a finger on the other girl's mouth, silencing her. Weiss was too shocked to respond. Ruby pointed behind her. "Something new."

That something was an abnormally large tree - no taller than the others, but with much more girth. Before Weiss could say anything, Ruby ran to the tree and began to climb it.

When Ruby finally broke through the canopy, she was once more in awe of the unnatural sky. Again, she looked toward the sun and desert. With a sigh of relief, she noted that the border between the conflicting terrains had moved much closer. "It's probably only a few hours away, now," she muttered.

A shriek from below shook her out of her reverie. In her haste to get back down, she lost her footing, falling straight from the top of the tree. She landed face first on the forest floor.

"Ow."

"Get up get up get up!" shouted Weiss.

Slowly, Ruby complied, peeling herself off the ground. She stood and brushed the dirt off her skirt, too preoccupied to notice the sounds of shifting branches and leaves.

"The tree is moving!" Weiss hissed.

Ruby looked up just in time to see a pair of eyes, each the size of her own head, open on the trunk of the big tree. They were of crystalline amber, though dulled as if centuries old. The eyes blinked. Wood crackled and bark snapped as the tree formed itself a mouth, completing the face.

"Hello," intoned the tree, in a rather deep, breathy voice.

The girls' jaws could hardly go any lower.

"You woke me up. I don't remember the last time I had visitors," it continued, ponderously. "Though that may be because I never had any visitors at all."

"Um, hi," said Ruby, finally gathering herself.

The tree twisted itself slightly to look at the girl more directly. "What is your name, little one?"

"I'm Ruby. This is my partner, Weiss."

"Partner?" it responded. "In the world I remember, you would have been shunned by your fellow humans… though, that was a long time ago, and who am I to judge?"

Weiss blushed furiously. "Teammate!" she nearly shouted. "It's not like that at all! We're teammates!"

"Ah, I apologize. I seem to have misunderstood."

"What's your name?" asked Ruby.

"I do not have a name," it responded, almost sorrowfully. "I suppose you might call me 'Tree.'"

Ruby nodded. Normally, she would get a little bored in a conversation with someone who spoke so slowly, but the novelty of talking to a giant plant seemed to make up for that. "Ok, Tree; where are we?"

"Hrmmm," grumbled Tree. "You ask the biggest question first. I presume you come from Remnant?"

The girls nodded, taken aback by the question.

"This is another world, apart from Remnant, created by Man."

"How, and for what purpose?" asked Weiss, curious.

"I could not tell you how it came to be, but this world is a prison. It was formed from nothing when your kind won the first Great War. Every enemy that could not be slain had to be put somewhere safe, where they would be no threat."

Ruby looked surprised. "Are you saying that you fought against mankind and were imprisoned here? You're being awfully friendly."

Tree's leaves shuffled. "No. I stood by, as I always have. Here, I act as warden."

"It's your job to keep those beings in?"

"I doubt they could get out even if I were not here. The magics on this place are strong. I do, however, act as a gateway between this world and yours. It is lucky for you that I am here."

The girls looked at each other with relief. "So you can send us home?" asked Ruby.

Tree closed its eyes in thought. "I will need power. It is no light task."

Weiss pulled out her rapier and gestured to the hilt. "Would the Dust in here suffice?"

Again, Tree's leaves shifted. "It is a step in the right direction, but the scale is far too small."

Weiss frowned. "Where might we find a source of power for you?"

In response, Tree's mouth creaked up into a smile. "There are several artifacts to be found in this place; concentrations of the power of the prisoners, developed over the centuries like pearls. There are only two I would expect to be potent enough to get you home, and they are very far from here."

"And retrieving them is our only means of egress from this world?"

"To my knowledge, yes."

"We were on our way to the desert," Ruby spoke up. "Is that the way to one of the artifacts?"

Tree tilted forward slightly in a nod. "It is the safer way, though it will be no easy journey. If you continue on your path, you will reach the border within a few hours. If you are lucky, you will not encounter the Beast that stalks these woods."

Weiss tilted her head. "What beast? Some kind of Grimm?"

"No, not Grimm… though it has no love for your kind."

Ruby nodded in understanding. "Is there anything we should know about this place? You talked about magics."

"Hrmmm. This is not a place of death. This world is designed to hold things, to bind them; its nature is to keep things in their current state. This does not make you unkillable, but normally fatal injuries may no longer be so. Avoid disease, for it cares little for the rules of this world. You should not find yourself in hunger or thirst, as the air here is thick with energy."

The girls stood silently for a moment, waiting for any more of what could be life-saving advice. When none came, Ruby decided it was time to wrap things up. "So we go through the desert and find our way to the artifact?"

"You will find it in the cold place, past the lake."

"Thank you for your help, Tree," Ruby said, as she walked towards it. She wrapped her arms around the trunk as far as she could (which wasn't very far) in a hug. Weiss rolled her eyes.

"Let's go," said the older girl, moving in the direction of their destination. Ruby followed, but turned to smile at her newfound friend.

"Beware Wind," Tree called out as they left. "He's stronger than he may appear."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Chapter 5, in which I finally get around to world-building. I hope this raises as many questions as it answers.

If there's anything in need of clarification, let me know. The world is all in my head, now, and some things in here might not be read exactly as I imagined, though that's not necessarily bad. As always, leave a review! Speculation and constructive criticism are the most fun things for me to see in those; I'd love to get some more.


	6. Chapter 6

"So we're not going to have to scavenge for food and water, huh? That's pretty convenient," Yang said happily.

"It's true that it should make this more simple, but… it really drives home that we're so far from anywhere we've ever been," Blake replied in a much more melancholy tone.

Yang did her best to come up with something clever to bring her companion's mood up, but it seemed her wit was not up to the task. She settled with putting her arm around Blake's shoulder, as they walked in silence.

"So, review for me where we've gotta go to get back home," Yang said after a few minutes. "It's pretty far, yeah?"

Her partner nodded. "First up, we've got some sort of maze. I didn't really get a good picture of any hazards, but I'm sure it's not empty. Then, we've got mountains. There's apparently something very dangerous out there, but the images I remember don't really make much sense; maybe I'll figure them out eventually. Finally, there's some kind of volcanic wasteland. That's our last stop - in a tower in that place, we'll find something that can take us home."

"Hopefully."

Blake looked at the blonde with a slight frown. "You still don't believe it?"

"I just don't get how you trust this thing completely, and so quickly!" Yang exclaimed.

"There was something about it," Blake began, attempting to explain herself. "It just feels right, okay?"

Yang stopped walking and threw her hands up in the air in frustration. "So you're just going to put all your trust into the first _monster _that crosses our path!?"

Blake choked on a breath. She looked at Yang with a mix of simple hurt and betrayal, and then stormed off without a word.

Yang blinked, realizing she had struck a nerve, but unsure of exactly how she'd done it. Sure, she was questioning her partner's judgement, but she'd never gotten so sensitive about that before…

Meanwhile, Blake walked alone and wondered about the very same thing. Why had she reacted so strongly? She still felt pained by Yang's words, but she was starting to feel childish for walking away from the conversation. Almost reluctantly, she stopped by a tree to wait for her partner. Not a minute passed before she heard the other girl's voice shouting her name: "Blake! Where are you?"

"I'm here," she replied, and waited.

Yang finally came into view. She approached Blake with a questioning look. The dark-haired girl looked up once to see that her partner held no anger in her expression, and then returned her gaze to the forest floor. when Yang finally reached her, she stood awkwardly for a few seconds, unsure of what to say.

"We should keep moving," Blake said quietly, breaking the silence. Yang nodded and followed her companion, hoping that the girl would not hold a grudge for whatever she'd done wrong.

* * *

><p>Blake squinted in an attempt to confirm what she had seen: a new color in this forest of shady greens and browns. As they kept moving forward, she became sure that they were approaching something new - perhaps the next area on their path. She turned to Yang and shattered their hours-long reticence: "We're almost there!"<p>

Yang's eyes brightened, and they both broke into a sprint towards the promise of a change of scenery. Within moments, they had broken out of the treeline onto a stretch of green grass and open air. The girls had issues enjoying the fresh air, however; the sight before them took their breath away. Not fifty yards ahead of them stood the single largest structure either had ever seen: a wall of red-brown sandstone which towered higher than they could see, and spanned so far horizontally that it may well have gone on forever. The strip of grassland narrowed to a point on the horizon before the wall cut off.

Yang looked up in a vain attempt to judge the height of the monument, only to find herself staring at the green sky over the forest. She shook her head. "I think I've seen enough weird stuff for today."

Blake smiled for the first time in what seemed like forever. "Come on, we can't stop here. Let's look for the entrance."

They agreed to go right along the wall, and hoped very, very hard that they had chosen the right direction. Neither was looking forward to a long trek, retracing their steps - assuming they ever found the end of this path. Blake had been very confident that it would not be possible to go around the structure, though she couldn't say why.

"Hey, Blake," Yang began, as they walked. "I'm sorry for what I said earlier. It sent us in the right direction; I'm willing to believe the other things it told you."

Blake shook her head. "No, it's alright. You were right to doubt it, and it was possible that I had been tricked. We knew nothing about this place, and you still didn't… I shouldn't have expected you to understand when I couldn't even explain why I did."

Yang smiled hopefully. "No hard feelings?"

"No hard feelings."

Yang sighed in relief, standing up a little straighter as if a weight had been removed from her shoulders. The girls continued their walk in silence, but it was a happy silence.


	7. Chapter 7

"What an interesting character," Weiss noted as she and Ruby walked out of Tree's earshot.

Ruby gave no response, too deep in her own thoughts to even hear her partner.

_I suppose it was a lot to take in, _thought Weiss._ After all, she's still young. It could take her some time to come to terms with with our circumstance._

The pair continued their trek towards the desert in quiet, Weiss considering herself quite gracious for it.

"Do you think Tree is a _he_ or a _she_?" Ruby asked suddenly.

Weiss gave her a dumb stare. "That's what you've been thinking about? This whole time?"

"Well, yeah," responded the younger girl. "I mean, if we're going to be talking about him - err, it? - in the future, I want to know how to refer to… it. See? Like right there. It's so confusing!"

Weiss blinked once, before straightening herself. "Well, technically, many trees are both male and female. It looked to me like a giant oak, which would be one of those many…"

Ruby made a face. "Ew. That doesn't help at all, Weiss. I'm going with _he_."

"I'm… glad we have that settled," her partner replied, inwardly sighing at the fact that that conversation had just happened.

Ruby gave a cheeky grin. "Anyways, he said that this place was made after the First Great War. I don't remember anything like that from our history classes; all we talked about was the origin story, the war between Humans and the Faunus, and the ongoing war with the Grimm. Where does this "Great War" fit in?"

Weiss smiled at the question, but then frowned when she realized she didn't know the answer either. "I'm not sure. It may have some connection to the origin story, but that has always been very vague. Essentially all we were told was that the world was an unforgiving place, seeking to wipe us out, but that doesn't explain who we were fighting against. It's possible that there were other races here before us which sought to eliminate the competition, but I feel like there would be remnants of those civilizations…"

"Maybe it's literal," Ruby interrupted.

"What do you mean?"

"Maybe it was literally the world that was trying to kill us off."

"That is _literally_ the stupidest thing I've ever heard."

"Hey, that's not nice," Ruby said, offended. "At least let me explain myself."

"I'm all ears," replied her partner sardonically.

"Alright then, here we go. So Tree mentioned a Beast that roamed the woods, and it wasn't Grimm. We don't have anything like that back home, and we also know this place is where we sent our enemies when we won, so that beast was likely one of those unkillable enemies. Imagine it, Weiss: animals as big and fierce as Grimm, but so much more dangerous!"

"Why would they be any more dangerous than the manifestations of darkness and evil?" Weiss challenged.

"Because animals have souls, Weiss! They could potentially use their auras in battle!"

Weiss was momentarily stunned. "That… actually makes a lot of sense."

"Right, so these animals were here before us and wanted us out. Tree also mentioned Wind, as if it were a person or something - but I bet it's exactly what it sounds like. Wind as a force of nature, bent to destroying mankind, would be super scary. Windstorms are pretty rare, but they're some of the most deadly things when they do happen at a bad time; imagine a storm that would actively seek people out and try to kill them."

"Okay, that's pushing it a little bit," Weiss said, waving her hands about in front of herself. "I can see animals being banished to another world, but wind isn't even a physical object. It's an idea, an action, something that happens - how do you just get rid of that?"

"Well, I don't know! Maybe you should try coming up with something instead of just shooting all of my theories down?"

The older girl sighed. "You're right, Ruby. It's a good theory, and it works pretty well with what we know. It's better than anything I could come up with."

Ruby beamed. "It's okay, Weiss! We'll be there pretty soon anyway, and probably run into some guy in the desert named Wind who'll try to kill us. Or something. I was just trying out an idea."

"Thanks," her partner smiled. "I suppose there's no harm in making guesses."

* * *

><p>About two hours later, the yellow-gold sands of the desert came into view.<p>

"We're here," said Weiss.

Ruby looked at her with disappointment. "Really, Weiss? Can't muster up a bit more excitement for the first change of scenery in ages?" She shook her head at her partner, and then took a deep breath. Weiss placed her hands over her ears and closed her eyes.

"OOOOHH YEAH! WE'RE HERE!" Ruby howled, making a mad dash for the sand.

Weiss' jaw unclenched and she let out a sigh. "Here we go again," she muttered to herself.

When she caught up with her hyperactive partner, she found the girl dancing happily, barefoot, in the sand.

Ruby relished the feeling of the grains between her toes. Visits to the beach had been a frequent event in her childhood, thanks to her sister, but it had been far too long since she'd felt the sand under her feet and the sun on her skin. She found herself wishing she had brought her swimsuit, despite the fact that there was no water to be seen. Ruby yelped, suddenly, as something sharp pierced her skin. The teen promptly fell over backwards and pulled her foot in close to her face. She found a fragment of rock lodged uncomfortably deep into it, the cause of her pain.

Weiss cringed as she watched the younger girl delicately pulled the offending shard out. Ruby bit her lower lip to avoid any further noises of pain.

Ruby looked up at Weiss and attempted a smile. "I guess I should put my shoes back on, huh?"

Her partner ground her teeth, deciding not to dignify that question with a response, as Ruby stood and donned her shoes.

A sudden gust of wind knocked both girls over. As the wind rushed past them, words seemed to enter the girls' heads unbidden.

_You do not belong in this place, fleshlings._

The duo looked at each other. Ruby blinked. "Are you Wind?" she shouted out into the desert.

A more gentle breeze flowed by._ I am flattered that you know of me._ The breeze abruptly became a hundred times forceful, knocking the girls down once more as they stood up. **_Now leave._**

"We need to pass through your desert to make our way home," Weiss called out. "If you allow us passage, we will be sure to keep our time here as brief as possible."

The desert was quiet for several seconds, before another light breeze blew past. _Let me tell you a story. When your kind trapped me here, centuries ago, this place was not a desert; it was a mountain. They were taunting me - leaving me with something that I could have no sway over. They grossly underestimated my strength._

As the tale continued, the force of the wind was steadily growing.

_I have __**destroyed**__ this monument to their egos, as I laid waste to their cities and their soldiers in the war. Do you understand? You are __**nothing **to me__! You are even more pathetic than they - and I will __**not**__ suffer your __**WEAKNESS**__ in __**MY DOMAIN**__!_

In conjunction with this ultimatum, the wind became a howling gale, drawing up sand with such violence that the girls could feel tiny cuts all over their skin as they scrambled back into the safety of the forest.

They sat panting on the grass, completely caught off guard by the ferocity of the assault.

"So… it looks… like I… was right," Ruby wheezed. "We should probably… have listened to Tree."

Weiss nodded her agreement, still breathing heavily. A couple minutes and some deep breaths later, she finally spoke. "How are we going to get past that?"

"Well, I don't think it'll listen to anything we have to say," said Ruby. "He doesn't seem to like us much."

"He doesn't seem like he'd be very friendly to anyone."

Ruby had to stop herself from making a quip regarding her partner's similar frostiness when they had first met. Instead, she sat back against a tree to brainstorm ideas.

"Okay, Weiss," she said, a few minutes later. "I have a plan, and you're not going to like it."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **The idea that large animals do not exist in the world of RWBY comes solely from the fact that we haven't seen any, yet. It is entirely possible that this entire premise will be destroyed in volume 2 or just by something Monty says, but that's not stopping me from writing this - if something like that happens, this story will just became somewhat AU. That wouldn't bother me terribly.

Review, please! I didn't run this chapter through my beta reader, SilentVex, so there might be some errors in need of pointing out.


	8. Chapter 8

Blake and Yang walked leisurely along the grassy track, their surroundings unchanging, unending; red cliffs to the left, green forest to the right. Nothing interesting had happened for nearly ten hours, so they were used to the tedium. On the horizon, however, a speck of black on the rock side was getting larger and larger.

"Is that what I think it is?" asked Yang.

"If you think it's the entrance, then yes," said Blake.

Yang let out a whoop of joy. "I'll race you there," she yelled, already at a sprint.

Blake gave a competitive smirk and dashed after her. Within half a minute, she'd caught up to her partner, who quickly stepped up her pace as she realized her victory was in danger. They remained neck-and-neck for the entire stretch, neither taking a lead of more than a few paces for the whole run. With the entryway coming closer and closer, Yang put full effort into her run. She leapt into the air and rolled upon landing, coming up right in front of the entrance in a victorious pose. Blake stood in front of her, smiling.

"Nuh-uh," denied Yang. "There's no way you got here first. I totally won that."

"Sure you did," Blake said sweetly, with a hint of smug satisfaction.

Yang huffed, and looked away. "Nobody saw. You can't prove anything."

"Prove what?"

"Damn, you're infuriating. I think I'm rubbing off on you."

Blake rolled her eyes and smiled. "Please, like you're ever this witty."

Yang threw her hands up in surrender. "You win."

Their conversation done, the duo remembered what they had been racing toward, and looked through the doorway into the rocky structure. The entrance itself was square, about 15 feet a side. In contrast to the rugged outer wall, the edges of the entrance were cut perfectly straight, and adorned with decorative engravings. Looking in, it appeared as if the inside were divided into cubes of similar dimensions - about 15 feet a side. The light level quickly dropped the deeper Yang peered, but she could see more than one pathway branching off from the main hall.

"You said it was a maze, right?" she asked. Blake nodded in confirmation. "How are we going to avoid getting lost?"

"We can gather some leaves," Blake responded, gesturing at the forest behind them. "Leave one of them at the center of every square we pass through, so we'll know if we've been walking in circles."

"That's a sound plan," Yang agreed. "Let's get us some leaves!"

* * *

><p>Blake eyed her partner skeptically. "Look, I appreciate your enthusiasm, but…" She gestured at the enormous pile of plant matter that Yang carried. "How do you expect to carry all that?"<p>

"What do you think this is for?" Yang asked, twisting her hips so that the pouch on her belt pointed towards the other girl.

"There is absolutely no way you can fit all of that into such a small container."

"Watch me," Yang said, sticking her tongue out. She proceeded to shove handfuls of leaves into the pouch, slowly transferring the entire pile inside. At times, it seemed as though her arm went further down into the pouch than should have been possible, but Blake was sure that was only her imagination. When Yang was done, the full pouch only bulged slightly, and no stray leaves poked out.

"I've never been more impressed with you than I am right now," Blake said, not understanding what she had just seen.

"And now we're even," Yang smiled. "You want me to carry yours, too?"

"No… no, I'll keep mine," she replied. Her collection seemed pitiful, now, in comparison to her partner's, but it was still hers.

Yang shrugged. "Suit yourself. Let's get back to the awesome maze - I can hardly wait to beat up whatever nasties are lying in wait!"

Blake laughed silently at her friend's shadowboxing as they returned to the entrance of the maze.

"Alright, let's do this!" Yang exclaimed as she took the first step into the labyrinth. The stone beneath her feet was smooth, but not polished. It held a sort of grainy texture that one would expect from stone exposed to open air, but it was almost perfectly flat.

Blake followed her partner, half-smiling. Yang strutted along in the lead, dropping a leaf in the center of every 15-foot tile, and completely ignoring every branching route. However, their path became darker with every step, and while she had no problems seeing, that was not the case for Yang. Slowly but surely, her partner began to turn to her left as she walked, inching closer to the wall with every step. Blake became somewhat distressed when she showed no signs of slowing, despite her obvious lack of vision. She grabbed Yang by both shoulders from behind, stopping her.

"Hey! What was that for?"

"You nearly ran yourself into a wall," Blake explained, slightly irritated. Yang put her hand up in front of her and took a couple of steps forward, coming into contact with stone.

"Oh."

"I should probably take the lead from here on out," Blake suggested.

"But how am I supposed to follow you if I can't see?" asked the blonde girl.

Blake extended her arm. "Take my hand."

After a few seconds of Yang floundering about in the dark in an attempt to grasp her partner's hand, Blake lost her patience and gripped the other girl's wrist. "Here."

"Okay, thanks. Which way do we go now, Miss I-can-see-in-the-dark?"

"Up," responded Blake.

"Up? Aren't most mazes… y'know… flat?"

"Why else would this place be so tall? High ceilings?"

Yang sighed. "Let's just go."

"It's a high jump," warned Blake, "as far up as the tiles are wide. I'm going to move you right in front of the wall, and you jump straight up and grab the ledge. You might have to use your gauntlets."

"Are you kidding?" Yang asked as her partner pushed her into position. "I'm going to need this ammo for when we start running into big beasties!" When Blake let go of her shoulders, Yang crouched low, then sprang up into the air. She grabbed hold of the ledge at the peak of her jump, having almost perfectly gauged it. As she climbed, up she was quickly joined by her partner, for whom the jump had posed little difficulty. Not wasting any time, the dark-haired girl quickly took Yang's hand and began to walk. When Blake ran out of hers, Yang took a handful of leaves from her pouch and handed it to the other girl, who would have a much easier time of telling when to drop one.

The duo delved deeper and deeper into the labyrinth, with only one goal: to reach the other side. With this in mind, they continued straight for as long as possible until a turn was necessitated, only then going left or right. They kept these detours as short as possible, too, reverting to their original direction as soon as the option was available.

They were making good progress, to be sure, but Blake just couldn't shake the feeling that they weren't the only things in the maze; something did not want them there.


	9. Chapter 9

"You want to run through," Weiss deadpanned.

"Yep."

"Are you trying to get us killed?"

"Not at all! I have a plan," Ruby proudly proclaimed. Weiss waited.

"Well, what is it?"

"Oh, right. You've got a full supply of cyan Dust, right?" Weiss nodded. "We run as far as we can, using our auras to shield ourselves from Wind, and then you make us shelter out of ice so we can rest and recharge! It's hot, but we shouldn't need more than an hour or so to get back into tip-top shape, so we won't need to worry about the ice melting through. When we're ready, we break out of the ice and keep running. Rinse and repeat until destination reached," Ruby finished, looking quite self-satisfied.

"There's a major problem with that plan," Weiss began.

"Oh?"

"We don't know how big the desert is! What if I run out of dust?" Weiss shouted. "We'll be stranded out there with no shelter, and we'll both die!"

Ruby froze for a moment, as if the thought hadn't even occurred to her. She recovered within a few seconds, though, and put on a winning smile. "That's not happening. We can both move pretty darn fast if we need to, so I don't think we'll come close to running out even if it's as big as the forest. And besides, Tree said that it was really hard to die in this place; we might not even need aura to get through."

Weiss grunted and turned away slightly. "I still don't think we should go. It's too big a risk to take."

"And what do you suggest we do, then?" Ruby asked, genuinely curious.

"I…" Weiss stumbled, "I don't know. I just… I hate being in situations like this. There's no good choice, no right path to take. I'm not used to it."

Ruby surprised her partner with a hug. "I know it's hard, but don't forget: we're a team, and there's nothing we can't accomplish together."

Weiss tensed up in the hug, but slowly relaxed and returned the gesture. "You're such an idiot," she said, trying in vain to hold back a smile. They remained in contact for a few moments until Ruby pulled away.

"Are you ready?" she asked.

"As ready as I'll ever be."

The duo returned to the edge of the desert. Things seemed to have calmed since they had retreated, but Ruby felt a malevolent presence watching her that could only be Wind.

"He's waiting for us," she noted.

"And we're ready for him," said Weiss. "Let's go on three. One… two… three!"

The girls broke into an all-out sprint, perfectly in sync. The instant they set foot in the sand, the wind picked up and quickly became as strong as the heaviest winds they had experienced the first time.

_**FOOLS**_, screamed Wind.

Ruby grimaced. "He's not playing around this time!" she shouted. Weiss barely heard her, despite being only a few feet away.

"Just keep moving!" returned the other girl.

It was difficult to keep track of their progress. Even as they ran, the wind pushed them back; the sand beneath their feet constantly shifted, and they could hardly see, anyway. Despite their obstacles, Ruby was certain that they were moving forward quickly. Her aura prevented any new cuts from forming and protected her eyes from the millions of grains of sand that assaulted her. She was tempted to jump into the air and use Crescent Rose to propel her forward, but she was worried that, if she did lose contact with the ground, she might be lifted up high, never to return to the earth. It was a terrifying thought, especially given the nature of this desert's only inhabitant, who would be delighted to have a toy to play with. This prospect gave her additional resolve; her steps dug deeper into the sand and pushed her harder forward. Weiss needed to push herself similarly to keep pace with the younger girl.

Sand was not the only weapon Wind employed. The constant gale that whipped about the girls was accompanied by an uninterrupted stream of profanity, threats, and insults. Occasionally, the psychotic verbal rampage was ousted by a more comprehensible voice, but one no less hateful. He told savage tales of his own merciless killings of humans during the war - no detail was spared. More than once, Ruby and Weiss had to force down bile that had risen to their throats. When the murders had been recounted, the frenzied profanity immediately returned.

They'd been running for at least an hour when Ruby slowed slightly to check her scroll. As she had feared, both herself and Weiss had aura meters in the red. She stowed the scroll and hit Weiss' arm. She nodded in understanding, before removing Myrtenaster and charging the blade with Dust. Both girls came to a stop, and Weiss thrust the rapier into the sand at their feet. The girls crouched down as a dome of ice about four feet high formed around them. Only a tiny hole in the top was left open to allow for air to breathe.

Ruby and Weiss sat opposite each other, breathing heavily.

Ruby threw up.

To her credit, she managed to keep it off herself and her partner, but Weiss still gave her a disdainful glare. The older girl kicked some sand over the offensive substance, before leaning back against the ice and closing her eyes.

"Sorry," Ruby grimaced. "I don't deal with blood very well - or descriptions of it, I guess. I tried to tune him out, but… it was so hard. How could he be so brutal?"

"I suggest you stop thinking about it. Close your eyes; you need beauty rest more than me, anyway," Weiss remarked.

Ruby raised her hands as high as she could with the low ceiling. "Such creative talent, wasted on insults! I want at least three high-quality jokes before we make our next run, missy."

"You already know that's not happening," Weiss dismissed. "And don't call me missy. Just quiet down and get some sleep."

As Weiss settled in further and tried to look asleep, Ruby decided that she probably wasn't going to get anything out of the other girl. She got comfortable and closed her eyes, trying to make herself believe that she could sleep, but… her thoughts continued to wander back to the horrific images that had been forced into her mind by Wind.

As time passed, Ruby tried her best to distract herself by playing games in her head, singing silently to herself, and sketching pictures in the sand. Every break, every pause she took was instantly filled with the same nightmarish image of Weiss and herself, mangled almost beyond recognition and sliced to ribbons in the red-stained sand. Every second that picture was held in her mind, she cursed herself for being so weak. Why couldn't she just push Wind's words out? Weiss wasn't having any trouble.

In the end, Ruby kept her distress to herself. Her self-distractions were silent so as to not bother the other girl, and, though it was the longest two hours of her life, the hole at the top of their makeshift shelter finally began to expand as the ice melted. Ruby kicked Weiss awake, pointing at the now-visible sky.

"We need to be ready to go."

Weiss nodded as she took out her scroll for a last-minute aura check. Her own aura was back to nearly maximum capacity, but her partner's was worryingly low - just over half, still represented by a yellow bar. She gave a concerned look at the younger girl, but decided not to breach the subject when they would be so soon be thrust into the chaos of the desert once more.

Ruby busied herself with some deep breathing exercises that Blake had taught her, trying to prepare herself for another bout of physical and mental torment.

"Are you ready?" Weiss asked.

"Yeah," Ruby lied.

"Then let's go!" Weiss kicked the side of the half-melted ice dome, shattering the wall, and dove outside with Ruby on her tail.

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN:**_Twice now I have been recommended to fuse each pair of chapters together to make for more bulky updates that include story progress for both pairs. If I were to change to this method, it would slow down updates significantly, but I would still put out around the same amount of story over time. Please let me know in a review or PM if you would like me to switch to this method or stick with what I've been doing, so I can get a better idea of what would make for a higher quality reading experience. Thanks in advance!


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N:** Apologies for the delay, everyone! This chapter is especially long compared to my normal updates - I hope that makes up for the wait. With this chapter and the last one, I've started to make use of the T rating. I don't expect it to get significantly darker than this, but it might be a little uncomfortable if you're very squeamish.

* * *

><p>Blackness. It was all she knew, now. The dark had never bothered Yang much, but she'd never realized just how <em>boring<em> it could be. She'd lost track of time long ago - the fact that they never needed to stop to rest or eat probably had something to do with that - but she was certain it had been days, if not weeks, since they entered the maze. The damn _maze_. It frustrated her to no end that she was walking through the largest, most elaborate structure she was ever likely to see and was, ironically, completely unable to see anything. Even worse, she knew that she was nothing more than dead weight for Blake to lug around. The only thing she'd contributed so far was some conversation, but even that had died out long ago. Feeling completely useless and bored out of her mind, Yang hated herself nearly as much as she was coming to hate this stupid labyrinth.

"I need some more leaves," said Blake.

Yang reached into her pouch to grab some, but frowned. "We're almost out. Tear 'em in half, maybe - make them count," she suggested, handing most of their reserve over to the other girl. They resumed their wandering in a slightly uncomfortable silence, quickly broken by Blake.

"If we do run out… what should we do?"

"Well, retracing our steps is always an option… but I really don't want to spend any more time in here than I have to."

"That's the thing, though; if we try to keep moving without any way of knowing where we've been, we'll be liable to get stuck in this place for much, much longer."

"Let's just do our best to get out as quickly as possible, so we don't have to worry about it."

"I suppose that's our only option. Wait - this is different," Blake said urgently, coming to a sudden halt.

"What's new?" asked Yang, excited by the change of pace.

"Well, if we turn right here, we enter a room way bigger than any of these hallways we've been walking through."

"Oooh, what shape is it?"

"Still square."

"Dammit."

"Anyway, there's something in the middle of the room," Blake continued. "Looks like a big rock. Same color as the rest of this place."

"It's not a cube, is it?"

"No, actually, it looks pretty organic… something about it doesn't feel right, though. I think we should keep going straight."

"Are you kidding?" asked Yang in genuine disbelief. "The first thing to happen here for who knows how long, and you want to just keep walking? I am absolutely, one hundred percent confident that this is the right way."

"I guess you're probably right," Blake conceded. "Just stay close, alright? I want to get through this room as fast as possible." The girls proceeded cautiously into the cavernous room, hugging tightly to the right wall. Before they could make any real progress towards the other end of the room, the rock in the center shifted. No, not shifted - stood, and Yang saw the first thing since the dark was laid over her eyes: a dimly glowing ruby the size of her fist. Something about it seemed to hate her simply for being, and something told her that it was looking right at her.

"Move!" Blake shouted, dashing as quickly as she could towards the door at the other end of the area without losing her grip on Yang's arm. Her partner followed, but not as quickly as she'd hoped; Blake had to slow her pace to match Yang's. Yang was not oblivious, though. She gritted her teeth, furious at her weakness - but it was simply not possible to keep up with her partner while unable to see even the ground.

Blake turned her head to watch the thing they were attempting to circle around. It stood almost twenty feet high, was shaped vaguely like a headless human, and was bulky enough that it probably weighed as much as a house. Its arms hung low, almost touching the floor, and widened near the ends, taking on a shape not unlike that of a tree trunk. The ruby glared from the center of its torso, the faint light it cast speaking only malevolence. And then it moved. To say it took a step wouldn't be quite correct; it flowed towards them, legs never moving. The thing was an extension of the earth. The texture at the base of its legs was always changing, as the rock floor flowed seamlessly into and out of the thing. And it was fast, too.

Blake concentrated, calculating the distances between them, the door, and the rock beast. It would be close, but they wouldn't make it at their current pace. "We need to go faster!" she yelled back. "Just a little bit more!" Yang pushed herself. Whatever that thing was, she didn't want to get caught like this. She wasn't used to running from a fight, but then again she was accustomed to being able to see her opponent.

When they got out, the rock beast was no more than twenty feet behind them. Blake slowed her pace slightly, knowing that the thing was taller than the halls of the rest of the maze which they had returned to. She quickly burst into an all-out sprint, though, when she turned and saw that it continued to follow them. It was bent forward, its back inches away from the ceiling, arms outstretched as if it aimed to crush the girls against the floor, should the opportunity present itself.

Yang turned every few seconds to look at the ruby on the thing's chest, and was very aware that it was slowly gaining on them. It didn't take long for her to make a decision. Without warning, she tore her arm out of her partner's grip and turned to face the oncoming , assuming the other girl had fallen, was very surprised and confused when she turned to see Yang adapting a fighting stance and activating her weapons. "Yang!" she shouted. "GO!" Yang yelled back. The authority and confidence carried with that command actually had Blake running before she could think about her decision. She stopped nearly half a minute later when she realized what was going on. "You can't fight that thing! Come on!" she called out, now a good distance away.

"The hell I can't," Yang muttered to herself. _That crystal has got to be its weak point._ _I just need one good hit_, she thought. She readied herself. When it got close enough to reach her, she fired her gauntlets and blasted herself straight at the oncoming rock beast. She pulled her fist back, ready for a full-force blow - and something hit her from below. The thing swung its hulking arm up, smashing Yang up and away, into the stone ceiling. She cracked the rock before falling back to the ground along with a collection of rubble. Blake's eyes widened. Realizing that she'd been standing by while her partner tried to fight something way out of their league, she started back to provide support.

Yang glowed. Slowly, she rose from the debris, shining brighter and brighter with each passing second. A trace of blood flowed from the corner of her smiling mouth. Her radiance shone, throwing bright yellow light onto the walls of the maze, as well as her opponent, who had stopped advancing, and stood about thirty feet away. "Round two!" she shouted. "I can see you this time!" With that, she sprinted at her foe, staying on the ground to keep herself agile. She planned to get right underneath the thing and throw a rocket-propelled uppercut.

She never saw it coming. From the left wall, a two-foot thick pillar of solid stone shot out, intercepting Yang as she closed the distance. It pinned her against the far wall, pressing into her torso and crushing her chest. She cried out in pain, and her light faded to that of a small candle. The ruby stared at her. Then it turned to Blake, who was still running towards them. The rock beast thrust its arms out, smashing them into the walls. Something began to shift. Then, with the huge, unbelievably loud sound of a mountain being torn in twain, a fissure appeared in the labyrinth, with Blake on the other side. She skidded to a halt before the expanding gap, and peered down into the abyss. Countless openings could be seen along both sides, all paths in the maze. Above, she could see the sky. Light poured down, filling the maze and enabling a bleary eyed Yang to see her surroundings.

"Yang! You have to get out of there!"

She coughed up some blood onto the pillar that pinned her. "Five more minutes, Mom…"

"YANG! You need to break the pillar and get over here!"

She nodded languidly, and began to smash her fists against the rock.

"Shoot it!"

"Oh, right," mumbled Yang, before finally cracking the rock with an explosion. After a few more hits, she was free, and starting to get up.

"Get moving! The gap is getting wider, and you need to jump it!"

Yang stumbled toward her partner's voice. The rock beast did not move from its position, rooted to the walls.

"Okay, now jump! Use your gauntlets to help you across!"

_Hey, I know what I'm doing,_ Yang thought to herself as she peered sleepily down into the chasm. She took a couple of steps back, then threw herself into the air. She fired once, which propelled her in more or less the right direction.

_She's not going to make it,_ Blake realized. Swiftly, she grabbed Gambol Shroud and whipped it over her head and down, firing the pistol once to increase its speed. The weapon embedded itself in the stone of the labyrinth about ten feet down, and Yang grasped onto it as she hit the wall. "I need you to climb up, now," said Blake, slightly more calm. The fissure had stopped expanding, and it seemed very, very quiet. "You're strong; I know you can do it."

"Of course I can do it," Yang said, as if there was nothing more obvious in the world. She inched her way up the black ribbon, slowly but surely approaching the top. When she finally threw her hand up onto solid ground, Blake firmly took hold and pulled the girl up. Yang crawled over to the closest wall and sat with her back against it.

"Um, I hate to rush you, but we should probably get moving," Blake suggested, gesturing across the gap to the rock thing which stood eerily still right on the other side, watching them with its ruby eye. "We can rest later." Yang grudgingly stood, and Blake supported her as they walked away from danger.

A few minutes later, they were far enough that Blake decided it was safe to let her partner rest. She set the girl down against the wall, and for the first time observed her injuries. Her shirt and jacket were torn and stained with blood in more than one spot. Blake, given her past, was more used to seeing blood than most, but it bothered her to see it covering her partner. The girl's aura was certainly stronger than most, but it appeared that the first hit had nearly drained her completely, leaving her especially vulnerable to the next. It was clear that some serious damage had been done - her entire midsection was starting to bruise - but she needed to see more to know how to help.

"Take your jacket off," Blake commanded.

"Yes, ma'am," Yang replied in a sultry tone, complying.

"You're delirious," Blake noted as she observed the wounds that were now clearly visible. Thankfully, it appeared that the girl's more sensitive areas had been spared injury, so Blake would not need to breach her modesty. She tore off a portion of her black coattail and wrapped it around Yang's waist, where the largest gash was. The rest of the cuts were fairly minor; they'd heal faster and would be covered relatively well by her jacket, helping to prevent infection.

"Okay, you can put it back on now." Yang put her jacket back on, and pulled it tight around herself to keep warm.

"Thanks," she said, shivering slightly.

Blake nodded, then slapped her. "What the hell is wrong with you!?" she cried at the sitting girl.

"Ow! What'd I do?" Yang exclaimed.

"What did you _do_? You nearly got yourself killed! What were you trying to do, sacrifice yourself to save me? What do you think my chances would be to make it home without your help?" She let out a deep breath. "We're in this together, Yang. You can't forget that."

Yang scratched her head. "Well, when you put it that way it makes me look pretty stupid. I guess… I was tired of slowing you down. I didn't want to be the useless buddy that's only extra weight for the real hero."

Blake's expression softened. "I understand. Just don't do something stupid like that again."

"You're the boss," Yang smiled. "Hang on, I can see you. Why is there light?"

Blake sat up in surprise. "Is there? I hadn't even noticed. I guess we must be pretty close to the exit. Do you want to get out of here?"

"I don't think I could if I wanted to," Yang said, frowning. "Pretty sure most of my ribs are broken. I almost passed out when you wrapped that cloth around me."

"Then we can rest a while."

"Shouldn't be too long. This place is great: there's so much energy in the air, I'll probably be in perfect shape in a few minutes."

Blake smiled "I wouldn't get my hopes up if I were you."

"Maybe you're right," Yang said, closing her eyes. Blake watched her for a few moments before finding herself a spot to lie down.

"I'm cold," Yang complained. "Come sleep next to me."

Blake huffed a short laugh. "If that's what you need." She settled against the wall to the side of her partner, who leaned against her. Yang fell asleep almost instantly, and Blake, emotionally exhausted, soon followed.


End file.
